Yep i know his contract is with yamaha. He's still under the tech3 tent so....But now that i think about it.It would have been worse if he would have went to Rizzla suzuki.(IMO) As far as insurance,Don't know how good that would be????? Because if Lorenzo did go to honda and they moved Ben Spies up to Fiat.'m pretty sure Rossi's not gonna like that at all and will run to ducati.LOL It seems Rossi donnot like to share the spot light with his "teammates"..LOL I'm pretty sure Ben is not gonna play the back seat driver roll for anybody.So that will be even more friction for yamaha.
This should be a great season!!!!

No matter where Rossi goes or stays, he's gonna have to put up with a talented younger teammate. I can't see Ducati dumping Stoner for Valentino, or a return to Honda, or Yamaha ditching Lorenzo and Ben. He may be the best ever, but there's not enough good teams out there for him to ride for. I think Michael Schumacher had the best plan- he picked Barrichelo for a teammate because he felt Rubens was his biggest threat.

I'll always be a Rossi fan and have been since the good ol days and its funny that Colin E. calls him and the top two three guys "aliens" because they are so fast. So Rossi for the 10th title is my bid.

Stoner...well what can you say...he started this season the same way he ended the last one. To finish first first you must finish as they say. So he will continue to be a threat but as long as he self terminates then that story ending writes itself. Awesome bike, great team, I'm a Ducati fan and owner but not a Stoner or Nicky fan.

Nicky was gifted the championship he had and has since never shown true leadership to repeat which in my book is the measure of a true champion. Now on great equipment and more maturity he is threat so lets see what he does with it.

Spies...all eyes on him this season. Unreal to finish 5th in his first race and ahead of Colin stright away...for a rookie thats amazing. He said it himself in the prerace interview, the field is stacked deep and even Rossi will find it hard to dominate. There are 13 past champions in the field this year so the talent is the best its ever been you could say. Look for Spies to do something with that Tech 3 machine that the team didnt even know it could do...like win a race! lol

So for me its a Rossi and Spies show this year and the Doctor is in DA'HOUSE!!

I'll always be a Rossi fan and have been since the good ol days and its funny that Colin E. calls him and the top two three guys "aliens" because they are so fast. So Rossi for the 10th title is my bid.

Stoner...well what can you say...he started this season the same way he ended the last one. To finish first first you must finish as they say. So he will continue to be a threat but as long as he self terminates then that story ending writes itself. Awesome bike, great team, I'm a Ducati fan and owner but not a Stoner or Nicky fan.

Nicky was gifted the championship he had and has since never shown true leadership to repeat which in my book is the measure of a true champion. Now on great equipment and more maturity he is threat so lets see what he does with it.

Spies...all eyes on him this season. Unreal to finish 5th in his first race and ahead of Colin stright away...for a rookie thats amazing. He said it himself in the prerace interview, the field is stacked deep and even Rossi will find it hard to dominate. There are 13 past champions in the field this year so the talent is the best its ever been you could say. Look for Spies to do something with that Tech 3 machine that the team didnt even know it could do...like win a race! lol

So for me its a Rossi and Spies show this year and the Doctor is in DA'HOUSE!!

Gotta take issue with this rant..!!!

Nicky was gifted a championship ?... maybe you get lucky in one or two races, but you sure don't get gifted a championship that runs over 14 rounds... and correct me if I'm mistaken here, but wasn't it Rossi who fell down trying to hold on to the championship in the final race of 2006, the year Nicky Haydon won ?... to finish first, first you must finish...

If Stoner, Lorenzo, or someone else wins the title this year, we can all assume that Rossi let them have it, or he had machine failure..... Because it doesn't sound like anybody else is capable or deserving enough to win on their own merrit.....

I think the season will be really close, with a few different winners, but mainly Stoner, Rossi, and Lorenzo winning with a few guys running in and out of the podium positions....

On another subject.... I love the new Aspar Ducati.... looks nice all Yellow.. ya think ?

Yes Rossi fell at a critical points paying time and he threw it away...no debate but how many championships did he have prior to that fall and loss? He was already a repeat champ. Hayden was the next best guy inthe field with many 2nd and 3rd place results. He was also running a bike previously developed by Rossi & J. Bergess. Rossi was working on the Yamaha and at that point it was a poor bike in many respects.
The following season Hayden could not repeat and has since moved from team to team. The problem is, I think, Hayden didnt go through the ranks in 250GP or even 125. Yes he is talented but he came from the US Super Bike series which cant hold a candle to the EU bike racing scene and WSB. Hayden has had to mature in the top series int he world and just now will he have a chance to repeat a championship.
Look at past champions and you see a pattern, Mick Doohan, Rainey, Rossi, these guys win convincingly and repeat it and always run in the front of the pack. These guys kow how to develop a bike and work with the team to achieve results.
So when I say Hayden was gifted the championship its because of his track record, the results.
Dont get me wrong I have a huge respect for all those guys, they are all aliens in my opinion, all talented all fast.
Today Hayden is on one of the best bikes in the field and who developed it and the program? Stoner & team. So it happens Hayden and the bike have come to grips and he can ride it so its his time to put all his MPG experience to the task and win this year.

Hey Chris.... I can understand a few of your arguments, but I think I'll have to agree to dis-agree.....

The the whole team plays a massive part in this sport, and Valentino is a very clever guy, he selected the best team of mechanics and pit staff that has ever graced this sport... look at their record, dating back from the days with Wayne Gardiner, and Rossi has hung on to them ever since... The best team of the time, paired with the best rider of the time.... always going to make it hard for anyone else to shine...

P.S I have more to say.... but I have to go work.... but there will be more dribble from me later.....

Stoner has 110% confirence in the electric ( not a bad thing) but has made mistakes since he doesn't have a HP advantage and that cost him titles. I used to watch him in the UK on 125 and never thought he was that good just goe's to show what i know

Hayden burn's up tyres like no one else, the year he won 2006 he had a new chassie, clutch, motor, and hayden and ukawa set it all up as Dani was out injuryed pre season. Yeah the Yam did blow up and rossi crashed alot that season. He still deserved it just.

Rossi, THE BIG IF, it would be intresting to know how many titles he would of won with JB in the garage. Is he the best of all time? i'll be intrested to see him move to WSBK or do a iomTT.

Lorenzo, now he has no set up coming from rossi side of the garage will he be on the pace all season? Im not to sure, he has the talent to ride the thing that for sure i guess we'll find out this year.

Hahaha this can go on and on its a circular agrument/discussion with all the What IF's you can throw in there.
I'm just going to stick with the history/records/facts and simply state that in Haydens case if he had more consistency he would have repeated and been a larger force to contend with in past few years since his title.
In my comments above I do include the team and yes of course there are more people behind the Man. One thing for sure the guy on the bike has to tell the team whats going on beyond the Data that comes off the computer. If he cant feel it then its not happening. How well he can articulate the issues and work towards a resolution with the team makes or breaks that teams efforts. You see it all the time in the pits the rider is talking with is hands and body to communicate a feeling he has.
So many factors you cant point a finger but the best o/a package does win. A rider is huge percentage of this equation but you have to look at the man machine and team. The interesting part is how the rider can compensate to overcome a poor set up.

Lorenzo...great rider and has huge skills but still not mature enough I think. He is not strong enough mentally yet, you can see it in the mistakes he makes while leading and his crashes at critical times. Totally a force to deal with for sure so lets see this year.

No matter where Rossi goes or stays, he's gonna have to put up with a talented younger teammate. I can't see Ducati dumping Stoner for Valentino, or a return to Honda, or Yamaha ditching Lorenzo and Ben. He may be the best ever, but there's not enough good teams out there for him to ride for. I think Michael Schumacher had the best plan- he picked Barrichelo for a teammate because he felt Rubens was his biggest threat.

I wish somebody would tell him that.LOL

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Nicastro

Yes he is talented but he came from the US Super Bike series which cant hold a candle to the EU bike racing scene and WSB.

You know what's funny when WSBK come to the us to race at salt lake.They run a shorter course than the AMA superbike guys. Infact who was it i believe Neil Hodges.A WSBK ex champion came over to AMA superbike scene and got his rearend KICKED BAD in his first year.Even the back markers was getting a piece of him and Neil was on a factory Ducati.LOL They interviewed him, The first words out of his mouth was i didn't know it was gonna be this hard. He said those guys didn't take the ama superbike series very seriously.In his second year never made to the podium but i do believe he had 1 or 2 top 10 finishes.Long story short i think 09 but i know for a fact this year he just won his first AMA superbike race.
I will some it up to this,different series,tracks breeds different riders,talent and bikes plus setups.
It breaks my heart that the guys who run nascar is running the american race bike scene now.LOL

What happen with that? We used to get all the AMA races over here in the UK and there been nothing this year. I know some of the teams were unhappy with the rules.

So far 2 of the races have aired already on the speed channel. I'll check for the next race and post it. If i remember correctly american honda,kawasaki and parts unlimited ducati left. yeah it sucks.LOL

Swheels:: So what the deal the US superbike championship? have they split into two faction? are some teams staying the AMA and the other going for the nascar route? Or has the AMA completly desolved?

over here the racing in ireland is looking real dodgy with most track being road course the heath and safty freek are getting involved and trying to ban all the race, First one already been cancled. i have to admit they have some balls racing on those circults, two little vids.